Inside this Human Skin
by Lilgrimmapple
Summary: When her little brother, Orion goes missing along with the King of the Spirit World, no-nonsense Celeste willingly goes to the human realm as a mortal in order to find him. Luckily she finds Neil, and he knows where her brother is. Unfortunately, getting them all back home is proving to be difficult when everything is trying to kill you.
1. Chapter 1: One Step at a Time

Title: Inside this Human Skin

Summary: When her little brother, Orion goes missing along with the King of the Spirit World, no-nonsense Celeste willingly goes to the human realm as a mortal in order to find him. Luckily she finds Neil, and he knows where her brother is. Unfortunately, getting them all back home is proving to be difficult when everything is trying to kill you.

_**((Author's note: Ok, this is an idea that I'm simply experimenting with. I had a strong urge to write a fanfic thanks to the positive reviews on my first oneshot, and this was the only thing that was begging to be typed up. Honestly, I had fun writing this first chapter. I never played the visual novel game of Amnesia, but I read some reviews about it, and I watched the anime. So, please review, fave, and follow at your own free will. And most of all, enjoy!))**_

Chapter 1: One Step at a Time

Celeste frowned in discomfort. Her body felt so heavy! She was used to being in her spirit form, feeling weightless, boundless and free. This fleshy container just weighed her down. Celeste tried to open her eyes and hissed when the bright daylight penetrated through them, immediately closing them again. Was light supposed to hurt? Her body shivered as her once cold body grew warmer in the sunlight with every beat of her heart. It felt so weird. She didn't know if she could get used to having a pulse, or a body for that matter. Taking a deep breath, Celeste knew she had to get adjusted to her new form and life. She peeled her eyes open once again, and this time waited until they got used to the brightness. When that problem was out of the way, Celeste tested her new body.

She first moved a finger and then wiggled her head and finally her legs. Good, she was completely linked to all her limbs. Feeling confident that she was in control of her container, Celeste sat up on the bench where she was currently lying on. Looking around, she made the conclusion that she was in a public park in Tokyo, Japan. Exactly the city that she needed to be in.

Seeing families strolling around the park, Celeste realized grudgingly that she'll have to learn how to walk. Getting up onto her own two feet, using the bench as a support, her legs wobbled from her body weight. Managing to finally stand upright without support, Celeste risked taking her first step. And like she expected…

…she fell face flat.

By God, that stung! The concrete scratched the fragile skin on her palms and her knee. Celeste was quick to learn that she did not like physical pain. How in the blazes do humans live like this?! Grunting in frustration and effort to sit up, Celeste blew her hair out of her face, her mouth set in a grim line. She was determined to master walking even if it killed her! "Oh, when I find that little brat, I'll ground him for a millennium!" …Ok maybe only for a few centuries…she wasn't that cruel of a sister.

The fear of not knowing where her brother ran away to just made Celeste shudder. It all was that stupid King's fault.

Celeste was a spirit from the Spirit World and her younger brother, Orion was the heir apparent to be the next king after Neil, who was the current king. He was in no shape or form related to Neil, but he was chosen from birth to succeed after him. The King gained his power from the human world by granting wishes, so Neil constantly spent most of his time loitering around with the humans on Earth. A week ago, he had invited Orion to come along and see how he does his job. When Orion pleaded for Celeste's permission, she immediately refused. There were no 'buts' about it. Orion was more than unpleased with her answer as Celeste soon found out. Orion, being a spirit with the age equivalence to a 13-year-old boy did not understand his sister's reason as to why. She tried to explain, but he just brushed it off as her usual childhood grudge against Neil.

In a way, it was…but there was a good reason for it. Neil, despite being the King, was quite overconfident, careless, and found granting human wishes more amusing than he really should have. "Wishes aren't meant to be taken for granted." She scolded Neil for the thousandth time.

He would just laugh at her unintentional pun and reply, "Celia, my dear. Wishes are meant to be granted."

It was his ignorance that scared her. Most wishes were best left alone, since as everything came at a price. She couldn't understand why the King refused to acknowledge this. If he was so careless at his job, how could he possibly supervise her brother down there on Earth?

After finding out that her brother had ran away with Neil, Celeste tried to stay calm. As an average spirit, she couldn't go down to Earth without superior help. So she waited for their return. After a week in the Spirit World (time flowed differently on Earth and in the Spirit World, and a week usually was a month in Earth terms), Celeste had lost all patience and her worry was at wits end. The King never stayed on Earth for this long, and there is no way he would allow Orion to stay this long either.

Gaining sympathy from a superior after begging and pleading (actually, it was more of peer pressuring), Celeste was given permission to go down to Earth. She had two choices; one was to take a human host, or to have a human body of her own. Both had a downside. With a human host, she would not have control over the body or mind. The human would be aware of her presence, and so convincing a host to take on a favor to find two other spirits would be near to impossible. In fact, they might sooner call the priest to try to exorcise her before she got to ask.

Having her own human body would allow her to have all the advantages of moving around and making her own choices. The downside was the scary part. Her body will not be a natural existence on Earth. Therefore, the human world would reject her existence and do its best to get rid of her in attempt to keep its usual order. Well, as long as she didn't try to change anything or stand out, fate could turn a blind eye. That was never promised however.

Deciding that having a human body would be more convenient for searching for her brother, Celeste chose to risk it. Besides, a body was only temporary anyway, right?

The sun was right at the horizon, reddening the sky. Celeste had lost count of how many times she circled the bench, practicing walking, holding onto it. She ignored the odd stares that she received from an occasional passerby. Her long legs trembled and stumbled like a newborn fawn, but eventually, she managed to walk straight without any support.

Proud of her accomplishment, Celeste could now allow herself to walk away from the bench and start her search. She had no sense of where they could be or who they took as their host. Being only a child, Orion would share the same host as Neil. What she was sure of was that they were in this specific city.

Passing by a tiny hat shop, Celeste saw her reflection for the first time in the window. She looked just like her spirit form. She had the same silver waist length hair that gradually transitioned to black from mid length to the tips that curled naturally. Her eyes were lemonade yellow and there was a small white star shape between her brows, a constant reminder that she was of the Spirit World. What she lacked were her dainty small black horns on each side of her head and long pointy ears. There was a cute black cap on her head. She wore a warm beige colored light jacket that could pass for a cute dress that reached mid thigh. Her legs were covered in pink and black, harlequin patterned leggings. On her feet she had black boots with a silver buckle on each side. Thank God for them being flat heels, otherwise she would have broken an ankle.

Celeste felt strange looking at herself as a human. She felt her soft small ears beneath her fingers and watched as her reflection smiled nervously back at her. A movement behind the glass broke her attention. It was the store owner who was behind the counter, and he stared at her with an eyebrow raised. Self-conscious that she was caught admiring her reflection; Celeste blushed and quickly turned away from the store, nearly tripping over her feet.

The growling in her stomach took her off guard. Celeste never felt hunger before and she had no currency, so she was at a loss on what to do. In a nearby grocery store, she saw through the window a stand that had a sign that said _Free Samples_.

Entering the store she picked up a dango sample. It had a delectable aroma and she gently bit into its soft skin, not sure what to expect. A burst of flavor exploded in her mouth and her eyes lit up in fascination. So this is how food tastes like! She tried another sample, and it tasted completely different. For the first time, Celeste was enjoying her human body. That was until the owner of the store got fed up with all the samples being gobbled up and kicked her out.

"This isn't a charity food drive!"

Disappointed and still hungry, Celeste had no choice but to continue on. "Huh. I don't get what the problem is. The samples are free after all."

By the time she reached the bridge that stretched across a river, it was night time. There was no way of finding Neil or Orion today. Sighing deeply, Celeste made her way across the bridge and stopped when she noticed that she was no longer alone. In front of her, there was a young man with long green hair and a black hat with a diamond pattern across its middle. His eyes were downcast as he leaned against the railing. His figure seemed so sad and lonely that Celeste couldn't help but take one step towards him. The feeling of a strong wish resonated from him, naturally drawing her in. A nervous tingle spread up her spine. There was something way off about that guy.

He was oblivious to her presence, and her suspicions were answered by him climbing up onto the railing.

Without stopping to think, Celeste threw herself forwards, running with all her might. Her arms stretched out towards him and gripped him tightly around the waist. The stranger made a noise of surprise as he lost his balance and fell back onto the safety of the bridge with Celeste in tow.

Breathing hard from the adrenaline rush that was just now starting to fade away, Celeste hoisted herself up from his chest, grasped his poorly done tie in her hand and pulled on it hard, forcing him to look at her. "YOU IDIOT!" She screamed in his face. "I don't care what pitiful excuse you have. IT ISN'T WORTH YOUR LIFE! NOTHING IS WORTH KILLING YOURSELF FOR!" She had him pinned to the concrete, straddling him.

She almost missed the silhouette reflecting in his tear brimmed, green eyes. Blinking, she furrowed her eyebrows as she began to recognize the figure, and it wasn't her reflection. The image looked shocked at first, but then its expression turned into a sheepish grin. She swore it would have broken out in a nervous sweat if it was physically capable of doing so.

Celeste sneered, but this time it wasn't at the man in her hands. "Well, fancy meeting you here, your Majesty." She whispered.

_**((Author's Note: Free imagination cookies for all those who know who the stranger is. 8D))**_


	2. Chapter 2: Confessions

Title: Inside this Human Skin

Summary: When her little brother, Orion goes missing along with the King of the Spirit World, no-nonsense Celeste willingly goes to the human realm as a mortal in order to find him. Luckily she finds Neil, and he knows where her brother is. Unfortunately, getting them all back home is proving to be difficult when everything is trying to kill you.

_**((Author's note: Hey guys! Don't worry, I don't feel like dropping this story. I just had lots of life stuff to do, such as college classes, finals, and other wonderful boring things. I want to thank Cutepuppy01 and Yoruko Rhapsodos for commenting and urging me to continue. It is my original plan to pair Celeste up with someone, but who knows who it will be and if it will even happen. My characters usually decide for themselves. Well, anywho…thanks for the support and I hope I will not disappoint you with the upcoming chapters.))**_

Chapter 2: Confessions

"Do you know how much trouble you put me through?!" She yelled in the poor stranger's face. "Being gone a day? Fine. A week? Sure. A month? Feel free! I don't care if you don't come back at all! But when you drag my baby brother into this, I will not have any remorse in pummeling your fleshy face in!" She raised her fist and watched the figure of Neil flailing about in panic.

"Wha- wait!" The stranger exclaimed, putting up his hands in a feeble defense. "I have no idea what you are going on about, but can we at least solve this without violence?!"

"Shut up, I'm not talking to _you_."

"You are about to break my nose! Who else could you be talking to?!" His voice rose an octave from panic, his face pale.

Celeste tilted her head slightly, frowning in disgust. "Why should you care if I hit you or not? You were about to throw your life away, anyway."

The green-haired stranger averted his eyes, looking slightly ashamed. "I have a low tolerance of pain..."

"…"

"…"

What a wimp.

Celeste sighed and thought for a moment, loosening her grip on his tie. She seriously had no idea what to make of this guy. For someone who was afraid of pain, he was more than willing to let the fall kill him.

"So, umm…" The man looked back up at Celeste timidly, his cheeks getting a bit pink. "Can you maybe…um…sorry…but…"

"Spit it out."

"Can you let me up, please?"

Celeste blinked and realized that she was still straddling the poor guy in a rather questionable position. Her ears reddened for a second before she wordlessly got off him. "Sorry." She muttered.

The man got up to his feet and she noticed that this guy was really tall in stature. He was literally towering over her. And yet, for some odd reason, despite his physique, he looked pathetically weak. He was thin and lanky, and the heels did not help. He looked as if he would topple over if she gave him a small nudge. His eyes held nervousness and embarrassment, and Celeste couldn't help but pity the idiot.

Suddenly, a ghostly image of Neil floated into partial view from behind the man. _"Haaahh…"_ He gave a loud sigh,_ "I was seriously thinking she was going to do me in there for a second. Thanks man. You saved me."_ He patted his host on the shoulder but the guy barely acknowledged him despite tensing up a bit.

An ugly sneer formed on Celeste's face, "Oh, don't think you are out of the gutter yet!" She snarled at Neil.

The stranger flinched and took a cautious step backwards. "I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to offend you, miss."

"Huh?" Celeste raised an eyebrow, not realizing that the poor guy thought she was still referring to him.

"I know!" The man suddenly lightly hit his fist into his palm and she could swear she saw a light bulb turning on. A smile brightened up his face as the sudden idea came to him. "How about I make it up to you?"

"What are you-"

"Just name a favor you would like me to do for you, anything at all!" He clasped his hands together in a pleading gesture, "So, please? No hard feelings?"

"…" Celeste stared at the stranger, taking her time thinking on what to answer him. He really looked like he wanted to do something nice for her in order to fix the already messed up impression she had of him. She wasn't sure if she wanted to take the offer from a suicidal man. But then a hollow feeling in her stomach reminded Celeste what she wanted. And besides, he did owe her for saving his life. "I'm hungry."

"Huh?" He blinked blankly, not expecting that to come out of her mouth. A low growling noise and an awkward silence soon followed after.

"Food." Celeste stressed out bluntly, ignoring his amused smile. "I'm hungry. Feed me."

* * *

Celeste was just finishing her 4th bowl of ramen. The man, who introduced himself as Ukyo, was sitting next to her while looking into his nearly empty wallet with a dejected look on his face. He did not think that a small person like her would eat so much.

He looked back at Celeste as she put down the empty bowl and felt the blood drain from his face when she raised her hand and said "I'd like another serving please!"

The chef laughed heartily, greatly amused by this hungry young woman. "This is the first time I have met a young lady with such an appetite as yours." He chuckled as he poured more ramen into another bowl and handed it to her.

"Is she even human?" Ukyo sweat-dropped as he watched her devour the next bowl of ramen.

"_Pfft, you'd be surprised."_ Neil leaned against Ukyo's back, trying to hold back his laughter. "_Are you sure you want to eat that much, Celia?"_ Neil taunted his childhood friend like he always did, his eyes twinkling in merriment_, "It'd be such a shame for that lovely figure to go to waste."_

Celeste swung her chopsticks and pointed them at Neil, inches away from Ukyo's and Neil's face, causing them both to freeze up in horror. "You have lost all privileges to talk to me, Neil." She growled. "Don't test me."

Ukyo's eyes widened at the mention of Neil's name.

"Besides, this body is temporary anyway. I'm not planning to stay here." Celeste turned back to her food. "I just need to find Orion and drag both your asses back home."

"W-wait. Hold on a moment." Ukyo placed his hands on the table, pulling himself up in a slight standing position. "You…know Neil? You can see him?" He was clearly astonished.

Celeste raised a brow at him, "Who do you think I was threatening the entire time?"

Ukyo slowly sat back down and smiled nervously, "Honestly? I thought all your anger was directed at me. I mean, no one else can see or hear him. What was I supposed to think?"

Celeste gave a small apologetic smile. "I guess so. Sorry about that."

"Oh! No, no…" Ukyo laughed trying to brush away her apology. "Don't be. It's my fault in the first place."

The young spirit sipped the broth while studying Neil's host. He was an all around nice guy. His eyes were honest and pure. He had a sweet face and was well mannered, despite being timid. He seemed to be the type that grandmothers would dote over, pinching his cheeks and all. He also appeared to be a pushover.

"So…" Celeste began, putting down her bowl while trying to find a delicate way to start this conversation. "What's with the whole, um..bridge thing? Isn't Neil supposed to grant your deepest wish so you can be happy?" She noticed the spirit king sucking in a breath and turning away with a pained grimace.

Ukyo lowered his gaze to his hands which were slightly shaking. He clasped them together in order to stop it. His smile faded the moment she asked the question. Celeste felt her heart sink slowly.

"Neil?" She hesitantly inquired.

Her childhood friend twitched but did not look back at her. Ok. Something was terribly wrong, and Celeste had a gut feeling that it was worse than what she was expecting it to be. Normally Neil would just laugh it off and stick out his tongue while going _"Oops, I screwed up. No worries! I'll fix it."_ Here, he was avoiding her the best he could.

Dread filled her heart as she immediately thought of her baby brother. She gave a hard swallow and her yellow eyes narrowed, "Neil. What the hell did you do?" Her voice was low and dangerous. "Where is Orion?"

"_Celia…I…"_ Neil gulped and closed his eyes. A moment later he faced Celeste with such seriousness that it frightened her. _"I'm sorry."_ His eyes were filled with guilt. "_Orion isn't here_."

The girl counted ten seconds before she spoke again. "What do you mean, _he isn't here?"_

Ukyo raised his eyes at the two, not sure who they were talking about, but didn't dare to intrude on the conversation.

"Didn't he come to this world along with you?"

"_Yes."_ Neil admitted none too happily.

Celeste gripped the chopsticks in her hand tightly, anger and fear bubbling up. She waited for Neil to continue.

Unable to handle the pressure anymore, Neil choked out. _"I fucked up, Celia. I fucked up real bad. I broke the rules." _He floated down to the ground before her on his knees, his head bowed down low.

"Huh?"

"_I tried to grant Ukyo's wish when I wasn't supposed to! She was supposed to die that day and yet I…I couldn't-" _

"Neil, I don't get what you are talking about." Celeste's voice cracked, her heart was racing and she found herself standing up, ignoring the chef who stared at her confused.

Neil's blue/gray eyes met Celeste's yellow ones and he quivered before her_._ The king of all the spirits, was bowing before her out of all people. "I_ tried to bring someone back to life, Celia."_ He confessed weakly.

_Snap!_

The chopsticks in Celeste's hand broke. Her face was white as a sheet. "What?" She couldn't make her voice rise higher than a whisper.

The spirit king closed his eyes and bowed his head again, more than ready to take on her screaming and cursing. _"I didn't have the power to do so however, so I took Ukyo to an alternate universe where his girlfriend is still alive. The fates found out and they were furious that we would even attempt to go against their natural order. So they keep killing her off!"_

"…All of this would be over if I am able to keep her alive past the point of her original death." Ukyo gently took over. "But so far, I keep failing. Either she dies or I get killed off." He smiled sadly at Celeste, "I'm not supposed to be alive in the worlds that she exists." Tears began to well up in his green eyes, "And I just failed again today."

Celeste's head began to hurt. What the hell was going on? She shook her head, trying to make sense of things. 'Ok Celeste, take it easy.' She thought to herself, trying to calm down and think rationally. 'One step at a time. Who are you here for?' The white-haired girl glared down at the spirit king with her anger barely under control. "Where…is Orion?" She asked one last time.

Neil took one shaky deep breath. _"The girl is Orion's host."_

**((Author's note: WAAAH! I did not expect the second chapter to be so drama filled. xD Fingers, what are you doing? Stop being so intense! Heehee. Well anyway, I hope you are enjoying this story so far. I'm trying to make the chapters a little longer. Ugh, I'm tired now. I'll go take a nap. - ))**


	3. Chapter 3: Goodnight

Title: Inside this Human Skin

Summary: When her little brother, Orion goes missing along with the King of the Spirit World, no-nonsense Celeste willingly goes to the human realm as a mortal in order to find him. Luckily she finds Neil, and he knows where her brother is. Unfortunately, getting them all back home is proving to be difficult when everything is trying to kill you.

_**((Author's note: Wow, I did not realize that a month passed. But considering that I have been traveling all over the place with my family, I suppose that time just flashed by without me knowing it. I hope everyone is having a great summer so far! I want to thank Cutepuppy01 and Koneko Matsumoto for reviewing and enjoying my story so far! It makes me feel as if I have potential to be a good writer. ON WITH THE CHAPTER!))  
**_

Chapter 3: Goodnight

The moment Neil uttered the words; it took no hesitation in Celeste to slam her fist into Ukyo's jaw and have him sprawl onto the floor from his seat. Her face was red from fury and her breath came out in labored breaths. He wasn't her intended target, but it did the job just as well.

Neil cowered before Celeste, clutching his jaw in the very same place Ukyo was struck. He felt the impact as strongly as his host did.

"M-miss! I must ask you to refrain from violence!" The chef exclaimed in shock. He was obviously confused to why this girl was enjoying her meal one moment, talking to nothing the other, and then finally attacking the young man who was treating her.

"No, I deserved that." Ukyo gasped out while rubbing his face, his jaw reddening. "I'm very sorry for this." He got up and paid the man. "Thank you for the food, it was delicious."

Celeste ignored him as she glared at Neil. He kept his eyes lowered, ashamed. She had so many vile curses that she wanted to throw at him, but she was too angry to say anything. Her own little brother was trapped with a woman who kept on dying. Her sweet little Orion had to go through everything she did. And the one responsible was there before her on his knees, head bowed, silently begging her forgiveness. Well hell, as if she'd forgive him that. Orion was the only family she had.

She hardly even noticed that Ukyo gently led her away from the ramen booth, his hand placed lightly over her shoulder blades. Neil slowly floated after them, having no choice but to stick with Ukyo.

"_Celia…please_." Neil pleaded from behind her.

"Shut up." She whispered. "Go away. I don't want to see your face!"

The male spirit sighed, disheartened. Realizing that he could no longer do anything to help in this situation, he faded from sight.

"Do you have any place to stay for the night?" Ukyo asked gently. He noted as she shook her head silently that she didn't. He thought for a moment before smiling reassuringly. "How about you stay at my place for now?"

Celeste looked up at him; seeming surprised that he would offer her that.

Ukyo suddenly drew back in alarm as he suddenly realized something. "I-I understand i-if you don't want to! I m-mean, after all I am a strange man. I tried jumping off a bridge and everything. I've got freakishly long hair and clothes that haven't seen a washer in a while. I seriously don't have any u-ulterior motives! I don't even use my apartment and…"

The spirit girl blinked and backed up a step as he began to panic and talk a mile per minute. 'Whoa, calm down dude.'

"I will sleep outside if that will make you feel better!"

"Um…no that's not the problem." Why would you do that to yourself?

"I can give you the keys too if you want, so I won't be able to come in without permission!" No…seriously…why?

"Ukyo…"

"Or maybe I could- "

"UKYO!"

Celeste giggled at his stunned expression and rolled her eyes. "Calm down. I would be really grateful to you if you let me stay at your place."

"R-really?" Ukyo smiled and rubbed the back of his head shyly. "You don't mind?"

Celeste closed her eyes as she walked ahead on the street. "You're stuck with the idiot king, so it's probably best if I stick around too." She looked up at the starry sky above, going over the constellations without much effort. "Besides, if everything you told me was true, neither Neil nor Orion will be able to go home until your wish is fulfilled."

Ukyo followed her, listening as she spoke. His eyes instinctively lowered as she mentioned his wish, sadness filling him up again.

"What exactly is your wish, Ukyo?"

"Huh?" Ukyo's head jerked up at the question, meeting her eyes as she stopped to look at him. He stopped as well and gently breathed out his nose. His voice was strung with melancholy as he answered, "For Akane* to live past August 25th."

Celeste tilted her head slightly as she thought for a moment, "That's the day she died?"

"…" He was reluctant to answer but nodded anyway. He walked past her as he continued to escort her to his apartment.

The young woman followed him in silence for a while. The sound of chirping crickets were the only things that kept everything from being completely quiet. She studied him from the back, her eyes baring into his head. He didn't show it too much, but the anguish was there. He smiled and spoke politely. He helped her and took her in without a fuss, and yet…he was suffering inside. "I'm sorry for your loss." She finally said softly. She contemplated on asking the next question, but then set on asking it anyway. "How many times?"

Ukyo turned his head slightly to her. "Hmm?"

"How many times did you have to travel to different worlds?"

"Oh that." His voice trailed off, as if recalling a distant memory. He smiled back at her despite the pain in his voice, "I lost track."

"Oh." In other words, he did not want to remember. He did mention that he had died multiple times trying to save this…Akane. Not that she knew what it was like to die. Spirits were immortal and never had to fear death. However, death was not taken to be a positive thing in the human realm. She wondered if he truly did lose track of the times he had died. It seemed like a rather hard thing to forget.

* * *

Celeste woke up the moment the sunlight reached out from the crack in the curtains and gently caressed her eyelids with their glow. At first she could not figure where she was. This was not the spirit world. Blinking sleepily, the young woman stretched and let out a loud yawn. While she was in the process of stretching her limbs awake, she remembered what had happened.

Orion…Neil…Ukyo

That's right, she spent the night in Ukyo's bed.

**Flashback**

"_Here is the key." Ukyo dropped the silver gadget into her outstretched palm. "This is the only key for this apartment, so please feel at ease after you lock the door when I leave." _

"_Wait…" Celeste stared at the key in confusion. "I thought you were only joking about that." Her fingers curled over the key and she focused her eyes back at the man who was generously allowing her to stay the night at his place. "If you feel uncomfortable staying under the same roof as me, then I- " _

_A small laugh passed from Ukyo's lips, it could almost be mistaken to be a sigh. "You misunderstand." _

"_Huh?" Celeste raised a brow._

"_I haven't slept at home for a very long time." Ukyo smiled kindly. "In fact…" He paused to look around the empty living room, void of any furniture except for a couple of suitcases that he stacked up to use a small table. "I have been traveling almost all my life due to my job as a photographer. I never really had time to settle down in one place." He turned his gentle green eyes back to his guest. "To be honest, I feel more comfortable when I'm camping out under the stars. It gives me..." Ukyo trailed off as he thought about the wording he wanted to use. "… a peace of mind I suppose." He nodded as he agreed with himself. _

"_I…see." Celeste answered slowly. _

_Ukyo turned and put his hand on the doorknob before he remembered something. "Oh, that's right." He looked back over his shoulder at Celeste. "If you get hungry, I'm sure I might have something in the fridge. Feel free to use whatever you like."  
_

"_Sure." _

_Ukyo's mouth turned up slightly at the corners. "Goodnight Celeste. And thank you for stopping me that time." He walked out and shut the door behind him. _

_Celeste stared at the closed door with wary eyes. Was it a good idea to let a guy who just tried to commit suicide to leave like that? Probably not… He was a strange one. But she had enough faith to believe that he was genuinely thankful that he did not die two hours ago._

**End Flashback**

Celeste opened the refrigerator door to peek in to see if she could find something to satisfy her for breakfast. She was greeted with a sight that was none too pleasant. The cheese was covered in mold, and she swore that the thing just made a funny noise. Bloody hell, was it alive? The eggs in the container were cracked, and the contents seeped out of the shells while reeking of decay. Just how long were all these things lying in here?! She pulled out a bottle of milk, took off the cap and sniffed the contents. She quickly pulled away, wrinkling her nose in disgust. She turned the bottle over to check the expiration date.

"Over a month ago?!"

Ukyo was not kidding when he said that he hardly was around. The proof was in the pudding! Well, expired pudding that is.

"Shoot!" Celeste slammed the fridge door closed with her foot. "Now what am I going to eat?" She whined to herself.

Well, there was always the option of raiding another store with free samples. Yeah! That sounded like a pleasant idea.

After washing her face in the sink and fixing her hair the best that she could, Celeste waltzed out of the apartment, ready to seize the day. Suddenly she remembered Ukyo's key. Taking it out of her pocket, she fingered the piece of metal thoughtfully. "I should leave it where he can find it." She muttered to herself before locking the door behind her and hiding the key under the mat. That should do it.

Not really sure what direction to head towards to, Celeste decided that she should use the road that she was already familiar with. That happened to be the road that led her to the bridge on which she met Ukyo. She wondered what he was up to now. Perhaps he was trying to figure out on how to finally break free from the curse that he and Neil stupidly placed upon themselves? Which brought her to the question on how she was going to be able to find Orion now? Since he was no longer in this world now…

Celeste grudgingly realized that she would have to talk to Neil about this. He was the one with the "boundless power" and everything. Only he would know how to travel to alternate universes.

The flashing of sirens and a crowd of people below the bridge caught Celeste's attention and brought her back from the thinking corner of her mind. What was going on?

The young female spirit quickly made her way down the grassy slope, trying not to slip on the wet ground. Police officers held the crowd back from the scene, and she had trouble seeing from behind everyone on what just happened. "Umm…excuse me." She tried to push herself through the crowd to find out what the fuss was about.

Finally she was able to look over a woman's shoulder to see that two officers were pulling something long, limp and motionless out of the river. What on earth was that?

"Poor thing." She heard an old woman murmur to her neighbor. "What could have happened to drive the poor lad to do such a thing?"

"Such a young man too. They say that this most likely happened last night and it's only now that they found the body."

Wait…what?

Looking back at the scene, Celeste managed to get a better look on the body. A strong sense of nausea struck her when she recognized the long green hair.

It made more sense now why he entrusted her his key. Why he was so willing to pay for her food, no matter how much she ate. He wasn't planning to come back home at all. She hadn't made a difference that night at all!

"U-Ukyo?" She whispered in horror.

He wasn't saying 'goodnight' to her that time. He was telling her '_goodbye_.'

This meant that Neil was gone too. Just what was she going to do now?!

**((Author's note: Oh dang. I did not see that coming. Wait…-thinks for a second-…No. Actually yes. I did.  
*Akane is the name I decided to give the main heroine from the anime. It just feels weird if I don't give her one. So what will Celeste do now? Find out next time!))**


	4. Chapter 4: Maid Cafe

Summary: When her little brother, Orion goes missing along with the King of the Spirit World, no-nonsense Celeste willingly goes to the human realm as a mortal in order to find him. Luckily she finds Neil, and he knows where her brother is. Unfortunately, getting them all back home is proving to be difficult when everything is trying to kill you.

**_((Author's note: What's this? A new chapter?! LIES! It's a trick! A trick I say! Heehee! I apologize for the long wait. I have been having a writer's block as well as a lot of things going on such as another fic, classes, a job, and a social life. Thank you all who have been waiting patiently. Here is a new chapter that I thought up from the top of my head today. Enjoy!))_**

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Chapter 4: The Maid Café

Celeste was at a loss of what to do. If Ukyo was dead then Neil was gone too. The spirit girl walked aimlessly on the sidewalk, the image of the body being pulled out of the river still engraved in her mind. How was she supposed to find her brother now? Neil was the only lead that she had.

Her thoughts traveled back to Ukyo and she shook her head sadly. _'Why did he do it? Did my words mean nothing to him?' _Celeste found herself understanding humans less and less. Wouldn't it just be easier if he just let that Akane girl die in peace? Why did he have to screw with fate and make that wish and ruin his own life? It just made no sense! But he did say that Akane was his girlfriend or something of that nature. Did that mean that he loves her?

Celeste gave a deep sigh, too deep in thought that she didn't notice that she was making her way across a pedestrian bridge over a freeway. The honking of a car below brought her back to her senses and she looked down. Celeste gripped the safety fence with her fingers as she silently watched the cars speed below her. _'Humans are amazing. They can create so many wonderful things in such a short amount of time. It feels like only yesterday that they were only riding in horse carriages. I wonder what they'll come up with next? Orion would love all of this…' _The young spirit's eyes dimmed in sadness at the thought of her brother. Where was he now? Was he ok?

"I wish I could find you," she whispered.

"Oh my God! Is that Ikki?" A shrill voice startled Celeste.

"It is! Oh, my heart can't handle his perfection!"

"Kyaaa! Ikki-sama!"

The girl turned her head to see a mob of young women in matching outfits stampeding her way. Celeste gasped and pressed her back against the fence in order to move of the their path and avoid being trampled. To her dismay, they were pushing and shoving each other to get to the other end of the bridge that it didn't matter what she did. Avoiding them was useless.

"Out of the way!" one particularly rude girl in blue rammed her elbow into Celeste's ribcage as she ran past, knocking the air out of her. A metallic creak sounded behind Celeste and then a sharp _twang! _The fence unhinged and gave out from behind Celeste and very soon she found herself tumbling backwards with nothing there to catch her.

Celeste cried out and reached out her hand to grip something, but she was met with empty air. The sensation of falling was nothing that Celeste had ever encountered before. Being a spirit, she was always floating and weightless. Nothing ever weighed her down. Celeste's stomach lurched and she screamed. She learned very fast that she did not like falling at all. Her body spun out of control and she saw that she was rushing towards the road very fast! A loud honking blared out and the last thing that Celeste saw was a speeding monstrous truck before it collided with her body.

There was a sickening sound of glass breaking along with something else. Celeste couldn't tell. She felt the incredible impact but luckily, she never got the chance to feel the pain.

There was blackness and the distant sound of the horn fading away.

* * *

Celeste sprang upwards from the bench with a shriek, covered in sweat. Her hands grabbed the seat beneath her and held on to dear life. Her arms shook and her heart raced like never before. It was a strange immobilizing feeling that Celeste never felt before.

"W-w-what happened to me?" she raised her head and sucked in a sharp breath. She was in the very same park that she woke up to in the beginning! _'What the hell?! Did I dream the whole scenario up?… No… there is no way that all of that was a dream. I-…'_

Celeste got up and shakily walked out of the park and stopped in front of a very familiar hat shop. She placed her hand upon the window and stared intensely at her pale reflection. "I died just now, didn't I?" she finished that train of thought. Inside the shop, she saw a calendar nearby marked as 'August 1st.' A movement behind the glass caught her attention and saw the shop keeper raising his eyebrow at her again.

Celeste averted her eyes and continued on. Shoving her cold sweaty palms into the pockets of her jacket, the girl shook her head violently. "That's just silly. If I died, I would have returned back to the Spirit World." Then the memory of Ukyo telling the story of his constant world tripping played over in her head. "Unless for some reason I'm caught up in the loop along with Ukyo, Neil and Orion…"

That actually made more sense.

Her stomach growled and Celeste shouted in agitation, "shut up! I can't hear myself think!"

"Oh my. Are you alright, milady?" a voice nearby asked.

Celeste froze in place and felt her face redden. She turned to see a dashing young gentleman standing in front of a café with a towel hanging over his forearm. He had light blue hair and disturbingly enchanting aquamarine eyes.

She blinked dumbly for a moment, _'what is up with his eyes?' _

The gentleman tilted his head in concern, "milady?"

"No, I am fine. Just a bit hungry- I guess." '_And trying to get over the fact that I just died about twenty minutes ago…'_

The young man burst out laughing at her honesty. "If that's the case, why don't you come in and have something to eat at my café?"

Celeste turned out her empty pockets for him to see. "Sorry, I have no money," she said.

The man smiled charmingly and chuckled, "then allow me to treat such a lovely customer such as yourself."

His eyes bore intensely into hers and Celeste found herself taking a step backwards, away from that unnerving gaze of his. "No thanks, I can't possibly accept something like that from a stranger."

He looked taken aback as if he expected the opposite reaction, "why not?

"Well…it's just…umm…" The girl felt herself becoming increasingly more uncomfortable.

A hearty laughter broke out behind Celeste and she turned to see a blond young man with a headband grinning at the gentleman, wearing the same work uniform.

"Wow, I think this is the first you've been rejected by a girl, Ikki-san."

Celeste's blood went cold at the name. _'I've heard that name before…' _

Ikki allowed to slump his shoulders in disappointment, but kept on smiling. "Indeed, I have no idea how I'll manage to recover."

The other man gently placed a hand on Celeste's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm sorry about this womanizer. He's so used to women eating out of the palm of his hands that he has forgotten how to talk to those who aren't fazed by his charms." He put his finger to his cheek in thought, "actually, I think you are one of the first who managed to resist him."

"Oh…?" Celeste asked awkwardly.

"Relax. If you're immune to this incubus's charms, then he's basically harmless."

"Incubus?!" Did those things exist in the human world?

"Toma-san, please do not compare me to something so vulgar," Ikki sighed and his smile finally dropped.

"I'm only teasing, man. Cool your jets," Toma said good-naturedly.

"Aren't you late for work, Toma-san?" Ikki raised a brow.

Toma's eyes widened, "gah! You're right! Waka is going to have my head!" He turned back to Celeste and smiled apologetically. "Sorry for all of this trouble Miss…umm…"

"Celeste," she filled in the blank.

"Celeste," Toma repeated. "You know, you should take advantage of Ikki-san's offer. You look as if you need to unwind and have something sweet. Your face is really pale."

Her stomach growled again and Celeste blushed slightly. "Um, I guess I could come in for a little bit."

"Excellent!" Toma gave a toothy grin and held out his arm for her. "Allow me to escort you, mistress."

"Why are you calling me mistress?" Celeste cocked an eyebrow.

"It's what we call our customers," Ikki replied. "This is a maid café, so we call the gentlemen, 'Master', and the ladies, 'Mistress'."

"Sounds like tacky fan service to me."

"It's all part of the job description," Toma winked at Celeste and hooked her arm around his. "Shall we, mistress?"

"Um- sure, why not?" Celeste shrugged. Japan was certainly a strange country.

And that was how Celeste was introduced to the Maid Café and to the two most handsome guys she had met so far. Well, as much as she was concerned, she was here for the food, and not for the eye candy. Speaking of which, the café was full of them!

"Welcome, mistress!" The staff bowed to Celeste as Toma escorted her inside. There were two more hunky guys. One of them was about the same tall height as Ukyo, except he had more of a build and an air of confidence to himself. He had short blond hair that transitioned to green at the tips and wore glasses. His face was cold and collected.

The other guy was probably the youngest- still in high school perhaps. He had short black hair that went red to the tips. He had an air of mystery to him that Celeste didn't want to touch.

The rest of the staff were two young women. One was a brunette in a wild ponytail with an open and friendly aura. The other had neat pink hair that cascaded down her back and had a bubbly aura.

"For a maid café, you have a lot of butlers," Celeste commented bluntly.

Toma chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, "true. To be honest, we are always trying to hire more female help…but it's difficult since a lot of girls end up quitting due to some harassment from the customers." He nudged his head towards one direction of the room, "if you know what I mean. Actually, we have one more maid, but she comes in to work a bit later today in the evening."

Celeste followed to where Toma motioned to and her arms began to tremble. Sitting in the corner of the room were the very same girls that had knocked her off the bridge! They were ogling Ikki and giggling to themselves. So that was why his name struck a bell.

Toma noticed her trembling and bent over to her, "you alright?" he asked, worried.

"Fine…I'm fine," the female spirit lied weakly.

Toma frowned, obviously not buying it. He opened his mouth to say something but a furious roar made him freeze up.

"TOMA! You are late!" A strict looking middle-aged man strode into the room, wearing glasses.

"Only by a few measly five minutes, Waka-san. Surely you can overlook it this once?" Toma grinned sheepishly.

"Seven minutes and forty-eight seconds precisely," the tall blonde corrected in a monotone.

"Kent-san, did you seriously time me?" Toma asked in bafflement.

"Affirmative."

"Sometimes I can't even believe he's human…" Toma muttered quietly enough for Celeste to barely hear him.

"You have your first warning, Toma." Waka glared at his employee before turning his attention to Celeste and he bowed. "I am sorry you had to witness this. Toma will show you to your table."

"Certainly," Toma grinned and stole a menu out of the youngest butler's arms. "Right this way, mistress." He ignored the exasperated glare he got from his coworker and led Celeste to a vacant table. He pulled out a chair for her in a perfect gentlemanly fashion and set her table up. He placed the menu in front of her and filled her empty glass cup with water. "Please choose whatever you'd like. It's all on Ikki's wallet today. Don't hold back."

Celeste picked up the menu and skimmed over the list of food. Her eyes bulged and her mouth salivated. She didn't know what over half of menu was, but the pictures looked really appetizing. "I would like to try the Chicken Katsu Curry Rice and the Miso Soup…oh, and also the sushi set and the salmon salad-…for dessert I'll have the chocolate cake and the strawberry parfait."

Toma looked amused as he quickly scribbled down her order. "Would you like a drink with that?"

"A Double Espresso please."

"Will that be all, mistress?"

"Hmm…" Celeste thought for a moment and nodded, "yeah, I think that's it."

"Alright then! Please wait for a moment, your order will be brought to you shortly." He stuffed his notepad into his pocket and chuckled as he walked away, "Ikki's going to have one heck of surprise when he sees the bill."

Both guests and servers were eyeing Celeste with great astonishment as she devoured her large meal, especially when she was brought another helping. In Japan, eating small portions was considered normal, especially for women. But Celeste wasn't raised to be a Japanese woman.

Celeste could barely believe how delicious everything was! Sure the ramen that Ukyo treated her to was good, but this was exceptionally exquisite! _'Call me a glutton, but if I'm only going to be around for a short while, I might as well take advantage of this human body- OH MY GOD THAT LOOKS DELICIOUS!' _

The young spirit just barely restrained herself from having her tongue hang out of her mouth when the dessert was placed before her by the black haired boy. He glanced at her hungry expression and snickered, "are you sure you can eat all that?"

Celeste sent him a playful glare and said, "watch me." She dramatically stabbed her fork into the thick piece of chocolate cake and stuffed it in her mouth. She silently laughed to herself when he cringed at her manners and walked away.

She was more than halfway done with her cake when she heard Waka exclaim, "Ukyo! There you are my boy! How's the photography coming?"

Celeste nearly sprained her neck by turning her head around so hard and her yellow eyes widened. There was Ukyo, being greeted warmly by Waka who patted him on the back as if they were old friends.

Ukyo smiled at Waka and chatted with him like all was well with the world. Behind Ukyo, a transparent Neil floated aimlessly, looking completely worn out.

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((A/N: So what will happen next? Only time will tell…and hopefully you won't have to wait another 7 months. Thanks again to all those who have reviewed, faved, followed and waited patiently for me to continue. I love yah all!))


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